Eurasian Penduline Tit

Eurasian Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus) is a tiny pointed-billed bird with a grey head, black mask and chestnut-brown back. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits reedbeds and riverside vegetation across the western Palearctic, eating insects and seeds and weaving an elaborate hanging pouch nest from plant fibres; northern populations migrate south. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).